ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effects of respiratory training on pulmonary function in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD). Methods A total of 74 patients with COPD were recruited and randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group with 37 subjects in each.The treatment group re-ceived respiratory training including lip-contracting breathing,abdominal breathing and breathing exercises for 6 months in addition to routine medical treatment.The control group received only routine medical treatment.Pulmona-ry function was evaluated before and after treatment. Results After treatment,both groups improved in terms of all the pulmonary function measures,showing increased vital capacity(VC),forced expiratory volume after 1 s(FEVl),peak forced expiratory flow rate(PEFR),as well as forced expiratory flow at 25%of Vcmax(V25),de-creased residual volume and residual volume as a percentage of total lung capacity(RV/TCL).The difference be-tween the two groups was significant with regard to the extent of improvement. Conclusion Respiratory training can improve the pulmonary function of COPD patients.